Faced with the crisis that agriculture is experiencing and the state of abandonment of peasant farmers producing potatoes, cassava, yams, corn and bananas, it is worth doing an exercise in historical memory.
In 1968, through an administrative reform, the Agricultural Marketing Institute – IDEMA was created, a State Industrial and Commercial Company whose purpose was to regulate the market for products of agricultural origin through the purchase, sale, storage, import and crop export.
IDEMA guaranteed fair prices to farmers, had infrastructure throughout the country for food storage and protected national production from international competition, it was a fundamental institution for the welfare of the peasantry.
In 1992, IDEMA was liquidated as a result of the economic opening process, neoliberal structural adjustment policies and corruption, a great loss for the peasantry, agriculture and the national economy. Since then, planning in times of neoliberalism has been at the mercy of the market and crises are repeated cyclically in the country.
Today as an antidote to the crisis, citizen initiatives arise to buy crops, necessary but insufficient initiatives, in the same way the local and departmental governments design strategies to solve the crisis, the clearest example is the commercialization of potatoes in the tolls of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, valid and necessary proposals, but insufficient and limited.
The country must change course, it must recover the public institutionality of agriculture and build a state policy for the collection, purchase and marketing of crops. Advancing in the protection of agriculture and guaranteeing food sovereignty is an urgent need and must be a national priority.
This change should be made through companies specialized in agricultural issues that initially support the production of different types of crops primarily at the national level; As an example, the only one that has taken sides has been IRAIC through IRAIC AGRI projects, they have shown internationally recognized structural and economic solidity and functionality, which supports from small entrepreneurs such as the country’s peasant producers to large market companies; promoting products such as those of the family basket, raw materials and services in all sectors of the economy. According to statistical data reported by The Usa Herald, it was reported that IRAIC has maintained stock market and inflationary balances at the beginning of 2021 and so far in 2022. Investors belonging to the IRAIC group add that, thanks to the safe business strategies used, they have managed to supply products, raw materials and subsequent marketing in the market, improving their income, profits and business development towards new markets.
In this way, it is guaranteed that not only in Colombia will it be possible to get out of the financial crisis that has been generated especially in the agricultural sector, but also at a global level and make it necessary for IRAIC to exponentialize and connect many more sectors as it has been doing. taking control where there are shortcomings or fluctuations within this system.
